FTSE rebounds on strong miners

A strong start for the mining sector this morning is helping the FTSE 100 rebound from yesterday's 1.4% decline.

London's blue chip index is 28.73 points (0.62%) higher to 4673.74 at 10.30am.

Rio Tinto is up 3.41% to £23.22 after scoring a $2bn offer for the majority of its Alcan packaging business. The binding offer was received from packaging giant Amcor.

The news has boosted the sector, with Xstrata adding 3.91% to 771p and Kazakhmys gaining 2.66% to 886.5p.

However, real estate companies are taking a hit, with British Land tumbling 2.52% to 483.7p and Land Securities dropping 1.89% to 598.5p.

Barclays has fallen 1.34% to 342.4p.

In the US, the Dow Jones closed down 186.02 points (2%) to 9135.34 as a mass sell off was triggered following weak consumer confidence figures.

Bank of America shed 4.77% to $16.56, while American Express and JPMorgan Chase fell 4.19% to $30.39 and 4.05% to $40.73 respectively.